1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to apparatus for applying a dry particulate material to an item and more specifically to apparatus for applying an edible coating, such as breading, to food.
2. Description of Related Art
Applying dry particulate material to an item is particularly prevalent in food preparation where this process is generally known as “breading”. In breading, the dry particulate material may comprise bread crumbs, flour, meal or like materials. The item can comprise fish, shellfish, poultry, meat, vegetables or any other food item.
The prior art discloses two basic breading processes. In a first, a liquid material, commonly a batter, coats the item prior to the application of the dry particulate material. U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,227 (1975) to Reece discloses one such process where food is first coated in a batter bowl and then dredged in a pan of flour, the flour constituting a breading material. U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,427 (1991) to Kennefick et al. discloses the second process. Food is first dredged in flour, immersed in a batter and then dredged in flour again.
There are two basic market segments for breading apparatus that can implement either or both of these two approaches. One market segment includes industrial food processors that produce high volumes of products. U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,218 (1973) to Korstvedt discloses a breading apparatus for this market segment. It includes a food conveyor, a breading hopper that drops breading material onto the food, a breading recycler, pressure rollers, blowers and related electrical control circuits. These machines are complex to make and to use and expensive to operate. Requirements for extensive floor space for operation and operator training require a significant initial investment if the equipment is to operate efficiently. Investments of such a magnitude are generally only justified in high volume commercial breading or other coating processes.
Another market segment, commonly called the “food service segment,” includes individual restaurants. For this market segment breading apparatus is generally used on an order-by-order basis. There are requirements for the food service segment that are antithetical to the apparatus requirements for high volume industrial production. For example, in the food service segment, breading apparatus must be easy to use with only minimal operator training. It must be compact to minimize the floor space requirements. The apparatus must operate with minimal maintenance and be easy to clean. It is a further advantage if the apparatus has the ability to minimize direct contact between the food and the operator.
Prior art breading apparatus appropriate for restaurant applications attain some, but not all, of the foregoing objectives. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,129,167 (1964) to Frangos discloses a combination breading table and power sifter which incorporates a driving arrangement for laterally vibrating a sifting component to break up clumps and beads (hereinafter “clumps”) formed when the dry breading materials mix with the batter. In use, an operator loads food into a batter bowl in a counter and then dredges the wet food through a dry breading mixture in a pan, all by hand. When the quantity of clumps becomes objectionable, all the materials from the breading pan are loaded into the power sifter which then isolates the clumps. The sifted material then is transferred to the dredging pan. While this apparatus provides the breading function, it is overly complex to use and overly expensive to manufacture. This apparatus still requires an operator to handle the food during dredging. Further, no breading can occur during a sifting operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,778 (1972) to Moore discloses a breading machine with a lid. A rotatable container assembly located in a breading chamber is filled with breading material. Food is loaded into the container assembly. Rotation of the container assembly causes external vanes to lift and disperse the breading material over the food. Clumps are either broken up or directed to a drawer for subsequent disposal. This apparatus does not disclose any facilities for coating the food with batter or the like. Its design and manufacture are complex and costly. It also requires excessive maintenance and does not permit visual observation of the progress of the breading operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,227 (1975) to Reece discloses an apparatus for hand breading foods that includes a batter pan, a flour pan, a sifter and a catch pan on a common support. Breading material is applied by dredging the food through the breading material so an operator must physically touch the food during the breading process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,586 (1984) to Reed discloses a combined breeder, marinator and preparation unit. Mixing occurs in a sealed, motor-driven mixing drum with a removable lid and agitator blades. After the breading process terminates, the drum tilts to discharge its contents onto a grate. Excess breading material falls through the grate into a catch basin. When an exit portal on the catch basin is removed, the breading material drops into a motorized sifter to be accumulated in a sifter catch pan for reuse. This structure is overly complex and costly, requires excessive maintenance and training and does not permit visual observation of the breading process progress.
The previously described U.S. Pat. No. 5,020,427 includes a support that defines a plurality of laterally disposed stations. A fry basket rack at a first station receives breaded food that was dredged manually in flour at a second station and then moved to a sifter basket. The sifter basket moves to a batter station and the food transfers to a batter basket. After immersing the food and the batter basket in the batter, the food is transferred back to the sifter basket that moves to the second station for further manual dredging. The sifter basket provides a tumbling operation with the excess breading dropping back into the flour pan. The sifter basket retains any clumps that are formed during the process. As the contents of the basket are returned to a fry basket rack, clumps transfer through a chute in the sifter to a trough. This apparatus requires manual handling of food. It includes various mechanisms for rotating baskets and performing other operations that increase the initial cost of the apparatus and the complexity and costs of training and use.
None of the foregoing or other prior art breading processes and apparatus have succeeded in providing, in a simple apparatus, all of the desirable features of breading apparatus for use in the food service segment. What is needed is affordable apparatus for depositing a dry particulate material, such as a breading mixture, onto an item, such as food, that allows an operator to observe the process visually in real time, but without handling the food by hand directly, that requires minimal space, that is easy to use with minimal training, that is easy to maintain and clean and that provides both the wet coating and dry coating operations required for breading.